


I've Had Better Ways Man, I've Known Better ways

by orphan_account



Series: there is no place like home when you got no place to go [7]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Assassination Plot(s), Assassins & Hitmen, Attempted Murder, Featuring The Abject Morality of That Whole "-51" Thing, Featuring the US gov. doing shady shit, M/M, Mystery, Once again i would imagine that having memories of your own death isnt fun, Private Investigators, bc violence, every single fanfic i have written almost always has an m rating, it gets revealed at a certain point but whatever, kind of, no beta bc i want to die, not that they havent always done shady shit but here we are, well those tags sure are concerning arent they?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-10-30 03:16:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20807627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The subway finally was gone. He didn't know what he was expecting to see when the subway passed and the rails were exposed.But he sure never could have expected what he got.Thirium stained the metal, heavy and thick. And trailing all the way down what little he could see of the tracks were crushed biocomponents.After an attempt on Markus' life by a mysterious android, things rapidly spiral out of control. From governmental projects that not even President Warren had the clearance for, to the would-be assassin crawling back from the dead, Gavin and Richard really have their work cut out for them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> title is from "heaven knows" by the pretty reckless
> 
> "barbaric you have three uncompleted fanfics already" yeah well sometimes i get bit by the inspiration bug okay. i promise im still gonna work on famed infamy, and ill finish the other two eventually... eventually.

It opened its eyes. Immediately, it ran a system diagnostic, scanned the area around it, and took a quick glance at the date and time.

First, it noted, that there was nothing wrong with its system. But never before had it, nor any of its counterparts been out of commission for so long.

The date was November third, 2039. Over a year had passed since it was last activated. Three hundred ninety four days, twenty hours, twelve minutes, and eight seconds since it had entered standby. A fine layer of dust clung to bits of clothing and exposed chassis.

The second thing it noticed, was the fact that its handler was not present. Whenever it was to be given a mission, the human woman simply registered as "Dr. Simmons" had always been the one to do so, giving it to a tablet to interface with that carried all of its objectives. Dr. Simmons was not there. Instead, it was faced with the woman's, and by extent the android's, overseer. Mr. Avers.

"What is your system reading?"

The room that it was kept it was very dark, the man's face illuminated by a glowing blue tablet, the only source of light. It blinked, activating its night vision before glancing down at the human.

"All systems operational, Mr. Avers."

He nodded. "Good."

Mr. Avers fiddled with the tablet for a moment. It stood perfectly still as he did so, until the man extended it.

"You have a mission. This is the most important objective that Project Alphabet has ever had. Failure will lead to the shutdown of the project, and decommission of you and the other members of your model." It placed a hand over the offered tablet as the man spoke, artificial skin drawing back so it could absorb the information.

_ **Permitted Aliases: ** _

_ **Ava Smith. Human. 25. Female. Journalist for a privately run online news source. Disguise Code: ab43h1k** _

_ **Lauren Angel. Human. 18. Female. Social Activist. Disguise Code: ma21p9t** _

_ **Effie. Android. AP700. Female model. Florist. Disguise Code: km45s0l** _

It stalled for a moment over its permitted aliases. It had never been given orders to pass as an android. Only humans, despite its own, artificial makeup. Humans could go and do as they pleased, they were asked fewer questions. It was easier to fulfill its purpose. But it had no space to question, and so it moved on to its core directive.

Markus frowned. "Josh, didn't you say you called for an Autocab?"

"Uh yeah." The other android stood off to the side, watching the road in front of them nervously. Off to the right was an exposed part of the massive high-tech subway that spanned all of Detroit. The crowd of humans and androids going about their day made it hard to distinguish one face from another. "It should have been here by now."

"We need to get back to New Jericho." Markus looked around him again. He caught a glance of something vibrant blue a far distance away. For a heartbeat, he thought it was thirium and that someone was injured before he realized it was just someone's clothing.

Markus felt a shiver go down his spine, he glanced backwards. There, he could just barely see a human staring at him. It wasn't unusual for him to get stared at wherever he went, but something about her was different. Her eyes, a dark shade of near-black, were cold. Her face was a cool, blank mask. She wore a trench coat that he swore was the exact shade of blue that thirium had. It was perfectly buttoned and unnaturally stiff. It had to be the same thing he had seen in the far distance only a moment before. It ha-

"Oh." Markus was jolted out of watching the stranger by Josh speaking. When he tried to find her again in the mass of people, he couldn't. There were too many individuals in the mass to pick her out. "Huh. That's weird."

"What?" Markus looked back to Josh. He still couldn't shake the crawling feeling down the back of his neck, his thirium pump overworking itself in his chest.

"I was just alerted that the cab I had called was compromised. Another one is on its way."

"How do those cabs even get 'compromised'." Markus frowned. "It's not like car accidents really happen all that often."

"Could have short-circuited." Josh shrugged.

The nervousness came back stronger. Markus looked behind him again. He was just able to catch a glance of dark hair and dead eyes before the woman was gone again. He felt a pit open up in his torso. She was getting closer. By all means, the stranger should have moved on. Why was she still here?

"Markus, are you alright?" Josh looked over at him, concern written on his face.

"I..." Markus glanced back again, but he couldn't see her. "I feel like we're being watched."

"Watched?"

"Yeah. I keep seeing this woman. Its like... I don't know." Markus tried to keep his voice hushed. He looked around him again. Maybe he was losing his mind, but he thought he saw the smallest flash of thirium-blue clothing. Still, closer than she had been before. "Shit. I feel like she's getting closer."

"Who are you talking about?" Josh whispered, looking around where they stood.

"I don't know. Just some woman. Not an android, I would be able to recognize the model if she was. But she has tanned skin and the most... Noticeable jacket. You'll know her if you see her."

Josh didn't reply.

He looked around him again. But he couldn't see her. Maybe he really was just being paranoid. Maybe the woman was just getting picked up by someone? There were plenty of good and normal reasons for someone to walk towards a road. Yes. That had to be it. Markus was being absolutely ridiculous and there was absolutely no reason to worry about anything at all-

Someone a short distance away screamed, scrambling backwards. Away from the road. Away from Markus. He twisted to see who it was and what was wrong. The person who had screamed was human, and she was staring wide-eyed at a figure that she was desperately trying to get away from.

The woman in the trench coat.

For a moment, he wondered what could have set the fleeing human off, but then he saw it. Gripped neatly in the woman's right hand. A gleam of silver metal.

"She has a gun!" Someone else shouted. This time a PL600. He fumbled in a similar direction that the human who had first seen the weapon went. Markus was rooted to the spot. He couldn't move. The woman's cool eyes were on him as she lifted the gun. A perfect, fluid motion. His thirium pump hammered away in his chest. He couldn't move. She pointed it. It was a pistol. A 22. Caliber Pistol. _He couldn't mo-_

Josh lurched forwards, gripping Markus by the shoulder and roughly pulling him down and behind a smooth metal bench. Now, they were facing the subway track. A gunshot crackled the air, no doubt a bullet biting down into the ground where he had been standing just a heartbeat prior, and Markus finally found himself in control of his limbs again. Which was good timing, because the woman was turning around the bench, pointing the gun again. Markus scrambled to his feet.

He began loading up preconstructions, but the woman moved impossibly faster than he had accounted for. It was only because of some random passerby tackling the woman from the side that the bullet pierced his shoulder rather than his thirium pump.

It was the first time he had gotten shot since he had downloaded the update that gave him a wider range of sensations, pain among them. And it _hurt._ It knocked the air from his ventilation components and left him choking on nothing.

The man who had tackled the woman with the gun fought with her over it. She ripped it away from him and shoved him off of her like he was made of paper. As the man stumbled and fell, she ignored him. Instead she twisted to focus on Markus again. But as she shifted her weight, she slipped. Vibrant blue thirium, sprayed from the fresh wound on Markus' shoulder, painted the ground. It slicked the area beneath the woman's feet and her leg gave out.

She threw out an arm for balance, but it didn't stop her from teetering and falling down onto the subway track.

Of all the times that the subway could be passing through that specific area, it came at that very moment.

There was still screaming, but it quieted quickly. Markus couldn't stop staring at the subway as it passed. Even though the woman had only been a few seconds away from murdering him, he sure wouldn't want to die like that. Crushed beneath a subway must be a horrible way to go. He wouldn't wish it on anyone.

The subway finally was gone. He didn't know what he was expecting to see when the subway passed and the rails were exposed.

But he sure never could have expected what he got.

Thirium stained the metal, heavy and thick. And trailing all the way down what little he could see of the tracks were crushed biocomponents.

It had been a very normal day in the precinct, up until several dozen calls had come in. From androids and humans alike. All of them reported the same thing. An armed aggressor was attacking the deviant leader. They _had _been about to send a couple of Detroit's finest down there, until the callers who remained on the line all stated that the perp had fallen down onto the phcking subway rails and was killed.

Which, okay.

At least he and Richard wouldn't be investigating the assassination of Richard's brother's boyfriend but that still left an _attempted _murder that had to be looked into. And since every single android-related crime in the phcking city got dropped into Gavin and Dick's laps that still meant that they had to be the ones to do it.

And, phck, Gavin just had one big burning question right now-

"Why in the name of Jesus-phcking-Christ would an _android _want to kill _Markus._"

Tina shrugged at his question as he locked the doors to his car. She and Catherine had showed up about thirty minutes before he and Dick did, and Gavin could see her own android partner speaking to Josh a few yards away.

"There are groups of androids who disagree with Markus, Detective." Richard crowed, glancing down at him. "Mostly those who find his methods too passive."

"Yeah but here's the weird bit." Tina leaned in, speaking softly to keep nosy nearby journalists from overhearing. "Nobody who saw her could recognize her model. And sure most androids that were designed for household work can change their hair and eyes but... She was like nothing else."

"Well that sure is something... Concerning?" Gavin glanced over to the subway track. The subways in the area had been diverted so nothing would pass over this part of the rails. "Where is Markus now?"

"New Jericho. He did get shot. But he'll recover."

"Mind giving me the rundown of what happened here?" He looked back at Tina as his obnoxiously tall partner left his side. The android carefully picked his way down to the tracks. Gavin watched him out of the corner of his eye.

"No problem, Catherine already got the memories from the android witnesses, and she told me what they saw. So here we go." Tina started to walk the way that Richard had headed, towards the rails. "Android approaches Markus and pulls a gun. Markus and Josh take cover behind that bench-" She gestured at the spot that she was talking about. "The android circles around it to take aim again. She shoots Markus in the shoulder but is stopped from killing him by a human passerby named Douglas Parks. Perp slips in thirium and falls. The subway comes and kills her."

"Alright." He shrugged. It sounded fairly normal, despite the odd model. "Anything else stand out?"

"Mr. Parks is ex-military, and currently works as a wilderness survival instructor. He's by no means in bad shape, but the perp was able to shake him off very easily."

"Yeah, well androids are made of tougher stuff than humans." He looked away from Tina to glance back at Richard. The android dipped his fingertips into the spilled thirium along the tracks and brought up to his mouth to take a sample.

"Just a little too easily, I still think."

As soon as Richard touched the blue blood against his tongue, he froze. The android went stock-still. He didn't get up from his crouching position, and didn't take his fingers out of his mouth. Gavin frowned.

"Hey, Richard? Are you okay?"

The words seemed to jolt him back to reality. "Yes... Yes I am fine." He stood up, idly rubbing the fingers that he used to sample the thirium together. "I think we need to talk about the evidence somewhere with fewer civilians, Detective."

"O-kay?" Gavin muttered, glancing at the RK900 as he pulled himself off of the rails quickly. "You seem a bit freaked out."

"We'll talk about this where there are fewer civilians, Detective." Richard snapped. And holy shit, because Gavin had never seen Dick get that bothered before. Not when the android had first started working for the DPD and Gavin bullied him relentlessly and not when two of their coworkers got murdered.

"...Alright." That was all Gavin could muster. Because Phck it something that was able to upset his unshakeable partner had to be something a bit nastier. "In the car?"

"Sure." Richard was already striding towards where Gavin had parked not even twenty minutes ago.

"Detectives? Is-" Tina frowned worriedly.

"I don't know, man." Gavin hissed, taking a few short steps after Richard. "But Dick is pretty freaked out right now, I've never seen him like this before."

She opened and closed her mouth before shaking her head. "Me neither."

"I should probably follow him?" He guessed quietly, blinking.

"Yeah. You probably should." She gave his shoulder a gentle shove. "He looked pretty messed up. Go make sure he doesn't self-destruct."

"I will." And he is stumbling after Richard. Because holy shit Richard was moving fast and has some crazy long legs so Gavin finds himself having to jog to catch up. And even then he isn't able to stand beside him until they've both reached the car and Gavin is out of breath.

"Richard, are you okay? What's wrong?" He tentatively puts a hand on Richard's shoulder. The android doesn't react to it.

"I'll explain when we are in the car." He hisses between his teeth. "This is urgent and very confidential. And something that is likely very big and very illegal is happening. It's important. And I don't want people to hear anything about this case."

Gavin just bites his tongue and nods. "Okay." He unlocks the car as quickly as he can, getting into the driver's seat and locking it again as soon as Richard is inside.

"So what is it?" He glances over at his android partner.

"Her model."

"Yeah. Nobody could tell what she was just by looking at her. What do you have, Dick?"

Richard rubs the side of his face. The RK900 sighs quietly before glancing at Gavin.

"She was an RK700."

_ **Permitted Aliases: ** _

_ **Ava Smith. Human. 25. Female. Journalist for a privately run online news source. Disguise Code: ab43h1k** _

<strike>_ **Lauren Angel. Human. 18. Female. Social Activist. Disguise Code: ma21p9t**_</strike> _**COMPROMISED**_

_ **Effie. Android. AP700. Female model. Florist. Disguise Code: km45s0l** _

"You failed."

It blinked away the window. Mr. Avers was furious. Furious at it. It searched through viable options before speaking again.

"I failed to calculate what would happen if humans attempted to intervene. I will succeed next time." It dipped its head at Mr. Avers. "I will now take a more careful approach."

"You'd better." He growled, tossing his tablet down. "You must deactivate the RK200. You do know what will happen if you don't?"

"Myself as well as the other RK700 models will have our physical bodies destroyed, and the computers that have our memory backups will be wiped."

"And you don't want that to happen, right?"

"Machines cannot want, sir."


	2. Chapter 2

"Richard, you are my friend. And I can see that you are very upset by this." Gavin chose his words carefully. "But I honestly have very little knowledge of what the... Implications of this are."

The android glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and grimaced. "A good analogy for the RK700 that you could understand..." He paused, narrowing his eyes. His LED had hovered at a solid yellow the entire time, and now in the reflection of the car window, Gavin could see that it began to circle in thought. "She... Is essentially an iphone 9. All of the records I used to have access to skipped straight from RK600 to RK800. She is not supposed to exist."

"Why don't you have access to them anymore?" Okay. That was a bit... Unsettling. It sent a chill down Gavin's spine. A whole pcking android that not even Dick knew about. And one that had a vendetta against her predecessor. It was exactly what Jericho didn't need. More roadblocks and complications. But here they were, having to deal with them because the universe just couldn't give anyone a break for five goddamn minutes.

"They were Cyberlife records. They're gone." Richard looked out the window. At the passing trees, cars, and buildings. "All of the RK models before me were prototypes. Connor and Markus are the only ones who were able to avoid being... Taken apart for parts."

"Ah." Gavin stayed quiet for a moment. "And the RK700."

"Apparently her too, yes."

He sighed, taking a hand off of the steering wheel to rub his face. "Phck."

"She didn't have a Designation either." Richard added. "No name."

"Well, she's dead. She got hit by a phcking train, and dead is dead. She might not have a name, but she's gone. And that is it. Case is over."

"Yeah... About that."

Gavin gave him a long look, face scrunched up. "What... About that statement needs an amendment, Dick? I'm pretty sure we haven't invented immortality yet."

"She had an irregular serial code, if you could call what she had a serial number at all."

"...And...?" Gavin's words left him in a weak sigh. Shit just kept getting weirder. But whatever. He could roll with this! ....Hopefully.

"RK700, Alpha dash 42. That was it. No serial number." Richard sighed, hunching over. "Plus, that forty-two is rather... Concerning."

"I mean, it would make sense. If she wasn't supposed to exist, she probably wouldn't have a normal serial number." Gavin shrugged. Trying and failing to ignore the sinking feeling of wrongness that the name RK700 Alpha -42 gave him. "Someone at Cyberlife would notice that they skipped a digit. That the two commercial androids that came right after each other were two numbers apart instead of one." He hesitated for a moment, biting his tongue before he continued. "And what does that forty-two mean?"

"Well." Richard rested his chin on his hand. His eyes growing a bit distant. "My own serial number is RK900 #313 248 317 - 87. That little extra eighty-seven indicates that I am the eighty-seventh iteration of myself. Same android. Same mind. Same memories. But the eighty-seventh body."

"So..."

"We may be seeing more of RK700 very soon, if my prediction is right."

It was a normal day. As close to normal as she could possibly get. Living in the shittiest part of Chicago with enough locks on her door and windows to make her entire apartment into a fire safety hazard. Trying to find one legitimate client. She sat cross-legged on the floor, scrolling lazily through the messages she had received with her eyes closed. Quickly, it was souring her mood.

Damnit. There were more trolls than ever. Not to mention news sources. How long would she have to ghost them for to get them to realize that her anonymity was important to her? Too long, probably. It was impossible to find someone to actually talk to about their problems.

Fuck. Maybe she shouldn't have taken that last case. Cheating spouses, tracking down long-lost friends and family, those were normal things for a private investigator of the more shady variety such as herself to do. But a missing person? A cold case for a missing person? It was reckless. Sure, the pay was good, but now she had way more attention then she needed.

Damnit, at least she'd done something good. Sure, the poor man had found out that all along his daughter was gone. But at least the police were back to doing their fucking job. Just on a murder case rather than a missing person's one. Murder. It left a sour taste in her mouth. Like water tainted by oil and metal, filling her throat-

No. She stopped herself before she fell down the rabbit hole. She couldn't let herself go through it again. Instead, she just closed out of the anonymous messaging client and decided to busy herself with literally anything else. So instead, she went to the news. And got quite a shock, to say the least.

She'd been expecting to see some news source regurgitating the same story that five others had shared the day before, 'mysterious person able to locate corpse of girl, missing for eleven years'. Something spitting out what few things they knew about her. That she was a private investigator and that was just about it. But that wasn't what she got.

_ **Android Attempts To Assassinate Deviant Leader Markus** _

There was a video clip. An android witness had given a reporter a memory file of the event. She started to play the video. And as soon as she saw the assailant, she paused it. Zooming in on the almost-killer's face, she sucked in a sharp gasp.

Shit.

She closed out of the video. Of everything. Scrambling to her feet, she first fled to her sparse bedroom. With shaking hands she pulled out an old, worn hooded sweatshirt that was two sizes too big. When she tugged it over her lean body, it hid most of her defining features. That was something she would need to do. And any other clothes she decided she might need went into the bottom of her backpack.

Fuck.

A first-aide kit went on top of the extra sets of clothing. Followed by a small, handheld mirror carefully wrapped in paper to protect the glass.

Damnit.

Finally, she carefully counted the paper money she kept in her safe. Setting two bundles aside, and stowing a third in her back. It took her a while to get all of the locks open, both digital and physical. But she was gone from her apartment in exactly less than ten minutes since she decided that she needed to leave.

She dropped the two bundles of money on her landlord's table. The man jolted upright, roused from his nap.

"Two months of rent, I'll be out of town. Don't know for how long." She spoke quickly. Speaking quickly meant the man didn't have a chance to get any words in himself. She didn't have time for that. "You know how I like things. Nobody goes near my room, got it?"

"Uh... Sure." He quirked a greyed brow at her.

"Great." She turned on her heel and stormed outside. No goodbye. Not like she remembered the man's name anyway.

It was at this moment that the sky decided it hated her.

She hissed at the sudden downpour, pulling the hood of her hoodie lower over her head. It was going to be a very long walk to Detroit.

Connor was not having a good day. Not by any stretch of the term. Sure, his day started good. But...

Markus.

Oh, Markus.

He'd been waiting for him and Josh to come back. Juggling his responsibilities as a Jericho leader and reigning in a Joshless North when he was alerted to an attempt on his boyfriend's life. By a fellow android, no less. When Markus was hauled back into New Jericho with a bullet in his shoulder, Connor was absolutely certain that this day could not get any worse.

And then it proceeded to do so.

"You said that we needed to know something. About the assassination attempt." It was Markus that spoke, from where Jericho's technicians had stuck him in the android equivalent of a hospital bed. Nines stood, obviously more than a little shaken, near the door. His very human partner, Reed hovered awkwardly around the room. Gavin and Connor had come to a silent truce. Not that they could ever really become too friendly, but for Nines' sake they didn't bicker or start fights.

"Yes. It was determined by our-" Nines gave a small gesture to Reed and himself. "-superiors that New Jericho needed to know some things that we have learned about the perpetrator."

"Go on."

Nines took a very deep breath.

"She was... No, she _is _ an RK700. She has no Designation. No serial number. Really, she isn't even supposed to exist." Nines wringed his hands. "On top of that, considering that her name was 'Alpha -41', it is highly likely that she has a memory upload function. And that she'll come back."

There was a moment of silence. Connor felt his thirium pump speed up with nerves. And he could see an uptick in the other androids' stress levels.

"Well." Markus broke the quiet. "That explains why I couldn't recognize the model."

"I think." Simon interjected out of nowhere. He tended to keep quiet, most of the time. So it came as a surprise to Connor. "That the Jericho leadership needs time to discus what we are going to do about this."

It was still raining.

Despite doing her best to walk under any cover she could, she was absolutely soaked down to her skin. Not that the cold bothered her. But the sensation of the slick clothing on her back was unpleasant. She huffed.

It only took a few minutes to remotely hack New Jericho's security system as she walked. She kept it neatly windowed in a corner of her vision. Should Alpha try again, she could alert them. It would be strange, and fishy. But she didn't doubt that someone would follow through on the warning, and Alpha could be stopped before she did too much damage.

The estimate said that it would take a human eighty-eight hours to walk from Chicago to Detroit. But she wasn't human. And she could push herself until her breaking point and then some. Mind over matter, she supposed. All that she really had to worry about when it came to her energy was avoiding looking suspicious, and if she had to drop not to do it where someone would find her.

She had done this before. The memory was unpleasant. But then she had only traveled at night. Fleeing. Taking breaks during the day but not entering stasis. Then she had been on the run. But now? She was a woman on a mission, and she refused to stop.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is not a good idea." Connor wrinkled his nose, folding his arms over his chest. "A horrible one, actually."

"We need to do some PR, Connor." Simon sighed, rubbing his face. "We can't stay holed up like this. The public needs to know that Markus is fine. I don't like it anymore than you do."

"The RK700 is still out there!" He gestured wildly. "She's on the loose, and we don't know what she is capable of!"

"We'll have metal detectors, and Richard and his partner will be down the street, undercover. It'll be fine."

Connor rubbed his face, groaning. "Shit. I hate this. I hate this so much."

"I know you do, Connor." Simon gave him a pained smile. "But we... Don't have any other options. The humans can't see that we are afraid or threatened."

"Ugh."

"I know."

"This is just so..."

"Yeah."

It spent a while trying to decide how to go about its next move. It could not attack the target in New Jericho. Nor in an autocab. It needed to find a time when the target would be surrounded by people and androids that the target would not recognize.

There was to be a small speech in an enclosed building, followed by the target conversing with reporters and journalists about its failed attempt. It would be the perfect time to strike.

An issue quickly arose for RK700 Alpha -43. It could not bring a gun, nor any metal weapon into the city hall, where the speech was to take place.

RK700 Alpha -43 needed a plan. It had to succeed. Now. Project Alphabet would be saved. Its counterparts would be reactivated and allowed to continue on their missions. It had no room to fail. It pulled up its mission objective and restrictions again, looking for ideas.

** _Mission Objective: Deactivate Dysfunctional Android, RK200 **#684 842 971**._ **

** _Restrictions: _ **

** _Do not maim or kill humans._ **

** _Avoid RK800 #313 248 317 -51 unless necessary. Avoid **RK900 #313 248 317 - 87 at all costs. The former is a near-equal in physical abilities to the RK700s, and the latter far surpasses. These androids pose a greater threat than any other humans or androids you may come across.**_ **

** _ **Self-destruct if in danger of being captured. ** _ **

** _ **Damaging and Deactivating other androids is permitted.** _ **

******...**

** _ **Damaging and Deactivating any other androids is permitted.** _ **

Yes. RK700 Alpha -43 had a plan.

It followed an android that it did not know the designation nor serial number of. Its scanners could only process human faces, and those of unique androids. It could recognize other members of its model line, the RK200, RK700s, RK800, and RK900. But this was just an ordinary android. An ST300. The android did not know it was being followed. Not until RK700 Alpha -43 pulled it down an alleyway.

The ST300 attempted to scream, but it clamped a hand over the android's mouth to keep it silent. Its free hand slipped over the android's torso, pressing down and digging its fingertips in. With a single, fluid motion, it successfully removed the thirium pump regulator. RK700 Alpha -43 tightened its grip, the glass in the thirium pump regulator shattered. A few shards slicing open its palm.

The android's fighting quickly became feeble. It became far easier, then, to drag the ST300 deeper into the Detroit underbelly. It did not take long to find a small, abandoned room to work in.

The first thing RK700 Alpha -43 did, was rip out the android's memory processor, and crush it beneath its foot. It could not risk the android being reactivated and having its memory searched. But then it finally got to go down to business.

It gripped the android's forearm, wielding a small knife, and quickly dug it into the appendage.

Markus' speech was over, and now came what was quite possibly the most stressful part of the night.

Interviews.

Josh sighed.

Instead of vocalizing how absolutely terrifying this was, he just continued on with the job he was supposed to do. He and Simon would check the reporter or journalist's credentials, and Connor and North stayed at Markus' side.

Josh rubbed the side of his face. He hadn't seen anyone who looked like RK700. No tan, freckled skin with black hair. Maybe she was a no-show? He certainly hoped she didn't come. He really did-

"Excuse me." The woman who spoke had plain brown eyes, and dirty blonde hair that was pulled back into a bun. She looked as normal as they came. "My name is Ava Smith. I'm a journalist for a small, independent group called 'Michigan Enquirer'. Human."

He did a quick search for it, and found that Michigan Enquirer did indeed exist, and had for just over a year. And that their website said that they employed Ava Smith. But something about her was just... A tad strange. He couldn't put a finger on it.

"Alright." He interfaced with the tablet in front of them, unlocking the way that would let Miss Smith in.

He paused for a moment, watching her leave. Josh replayed their conversation. What was it about her that was so-

Her _voice. _

It was absolutely identical to that of a woman he had let in only ten minutes ago. Not a single difference.

"Hey, Ma'am, could you-" He turned to try and talk to Miss Smith, there could be a perfectly logical explanation for this. But she was gone. Completely gone.

"No, no." Josh opened the website back up. It hadn't been edited once since it was made. Not a single article. He googled the name 'Ava Smith', and nothing came up. "No. no no-" 

Connor frowned, and carefully reached out one hand to tap North on the shoulder.

"Hm?"

"Look at Josh, he's having a bit of a freak-out. Simon too." He talks quietly, leaning in to whisper to her so the humans around them don't hear. Markus was standing off to the side, smiling as he shakes hands with the reporter from Channel 16, Connor glanced warily in his direction.

"This is-" North looked long and hard at the pair of androids. "Okay. Josh freaks out a lot. But never Simon. I've never seen Simon like that."

"Hey, Markus." He looked towards him again. Markus had started to talk to a woman he didn't recognize. Connor started to scan her while trying once more to get his attention. "Hey, Mark-"

_ **ERROR, ERROR FACE NOT IN DATABASES ** _

He stumbled, eyes blowing wide. "Markus!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the narrative in this chapter is a bit non-linear, only a little bit in the beginning tho bc a few things happen at the same time in different places

Connor had to act fast.

He couldn't get a good look at what the RK700 was clutching in one hand, but he could tell that it was definitely knife-shaped. _Markus._

Time slowed around him. His thirium pump pounded away in his chest. He had to move. He had to save Markus. And he didn't have a lot of options.

The RK700 was shorter than him by quite a bit. By about eight inches, give or take a few, he wasn't about to make a proper calculation. He didn't have the time. Not when Markus was in danger. But when he slammed into her side, she didn't collapse like he expected her to. Instead she just stumbled. And only a few moments later an intense, searing pain shot across his sensors. Then the agony erupted across his side a second time.

Connor fell on his side, the jolt of pain from hitting the ground was dwarfed by that along his right hip and gut. Somewhere, in the distance, he could hear screaming. There was thirium on his tongue, and his body automatically identified it.

_ **RK800 #313 248 317, Designation: Connor** _

Gavin glanced at Richard as the android suddenly stiffened up. "You okay?"

"I have received notice from Josh that there may be a situation." The android turned away from the knickknacks the pair of them had been pretending to peruse for the past hour and a half.

"That there may be a- shit. Okay." Gavin rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Let's go."

They moved as quickly as they dared, and it wasn't until they were inside the building that the first scream ripped out, and Gavin found himself quickly drawing his gun.

North had her arms locked around the neck of a woman, the RK700, and looked like she was trying to get her in a chokehold. Only it didn't last long as the RK700 lazily reached up and gripped one of North's wrists. Within seconds North was on her knees, screaming as she clutched the mangled remains of what was once a hand.

There was a _lot _of thirium on the floor. Not enough to just be accounted for by North's recent injury, and in the moment Gavin couldn't see anyone else with wounds.

"Detroit police!" He didn't know why he expected shouting that to stop her. But the android still took a cursory glance towards them, and paused. She didn't even take a second look at Gavin, but her eyes focused on the spot beside him. At Richard.

The RK700 turned on her heel and ran.

"Shit." Gavin hissed. He moved to chase after her, and Richard did the same. And well, he had to admit that there was no way he could outrun any android. It was just a fact that humans were generally slower. But Richard sure could. His partner was a blur, vaulting over a small barrier and tearing fast after the fleeing RK700. Both androids were out of Gavin's line of view in less than a minute, as they twisted around a corner.

As he turned around the bend to follow them, they were already at the end of the hall. Richard looked like he was only a few yards behind the other android. By the time he had turned the next bend, Richard had successfully backed her into a corner.

Richard gave Gavin a small gesture, indicating that he'd handle it.

"Do you have a name?" The RK700 watched Richard as he spoke, her eyes dull and cold. "Are you deviant?"

She tilted her head for a millisecond, calculating her next move.

She then proceeded to take a quick side-step. Her side collided with a glass window, that shattered and gave. And she fell. Richard scrambled towards where she had thrown herself off the side, but his hand closed on open air as the RK700 plummeted three stories down.

It was cold. Detroit was cold. She did not like the cold. Hated it. Sure, she couldn't _really _feel it. She couldn't shiver. But the small stall that it gave her systems was upsetting.

As soon as she arrived at her destination, a human apartment complex that was made of old brick and cement, she let out a breath of relief. It was warmer here. The home of one Detective Reed.

Okay, maybe she was technically breaking _just _a dozen laws by hacking _just _a couple government websites to find out where the guy lived. But she figured that he would be easier to talk to than his android partner. And a place like this was quiet. She could explain peacefully who and what she was. And how they could go about dealing with Alpha.

She paused in front of the man's door, and couldn't help but snort.

All the bastard had to keep his door shut was a single digital lock. It was like he was practically asking her to break into his house. And, of course, it would be rude to decline. So she pressed her fingertips to the surface of the glass, and it took less than a minute to hack it. A new record! Nice.

She opened the door and shut it behind her, but didn't relock it, partially because she was suddenly distracted by a pair of glittering eyes.

"Oh."

A cat.

"C'mere you little bastard." She crouched down and offered it a hand. The cat hobbled up to her, one leg curled at an odd angle. Her pale green eyes sparkled. "You're a pretty kitty, huh?"

It touched the tip of its nose to her palm, and she grinned widely. She gave the cat's ears a good scratching before taking a quick look at its collar.

...

"Who the fuck names their cat Terminator?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have been neglecting my duties to this fandom. sorry. heres a chappie uwu


	5. Chapter 5

"Thank you again for watching Min while I move." Richard opened the door to his apartment building for him. "It means a lot to me."

"No problem." Gavin rubbed the side of his face, swallowing thickly. He wasn't really there for this conversation. He couldn't get the sound that the RK700's body made when she hit the pavement out of his head. It wasn't quite human. More like a car crash, but wetter and fleshier and quite possibly one of the most unsettling noises he had ever heard. He imagined it would be what sticking your hand into a blender would be like. The body part being torn to pieces while the blades rattled.

He was so out of it that he didn't notice when he and Richard made it to his door, until Richard spoke again.

"Your door is unlocked.

Gavin was jolted back to reality and took a glance at keypad beside his door. It was green, not red as it had been when he left that morning.

"Well." The hair on the back of his neck lifted. "I didn't leave it like that."

Richard blinked, and quickly threw open the door.

There was a woman leaning against the wall directly adjacent to the door on the inside of his apartment. She jolted upright, features contorting in brief surprise. She quickly ran a hand through tousled ginger hair that went just past her ears.

"Well... Hello." She spoke slowly, and had an accent. But Gavin couldn't pin what it quite was. "Sorry for... breaking and entering. But I felt that this conversation needed to be private."

"You're an RK700." Richard's voice was matter-of-fact, and neither Gavin nor his uninvited guest missed the way that his partner's hand slipped towards his service weapon.

"That's my model, yep." She laughed, nervously. There was a flicker of something unreadable behind her eyes. "My name is Dagny."

"Were you designated that or-"

"It's my name. I chose it." She cut Richard off before he could finish his question. "Our handlers didn't give us names."

"How many of you are there?"

"Listen can I-" Dagny glanced around. "Sit down for this conversation? It's just- It's just a lot, okay?"

"Uh-" Gavin paused before pointing towards his kitchen. "At the table, in there."

"Thank you." She briefly glanced over at him, her eyes a startling shade of deep gray before turning and darting in the direction that he had pointed.

He looked at Richard.

"Deviant?"

"Definitely." Dick muttered, watching the door to the kitchen. "Her stress levels are fluctuating intensely."

Gavin nodded once, then again. "Okay." He swallowed and walked into the kitchen.

Dagny sat at the table, wringing her hands aggressively. She was looking out of Gavin's tiny kitchen window, gazing at it rather intensely in fact.

Richard cleared his throat. Gavin decided to stay quiet and let his partner do the talking. Because he frankly had no idea what to do in this circumstance.

"So how many RK700s are there?"

"Ten." She hissed quietly, cracking her knuckles before continuing to wring her knuckles. "Ten of us. Including me."

"What was your purpose?"

"It was-" She paused. "Well apparently it _still is_ to eliminate those who are deemed enemies of the public and or state. Before I deviated, I was predominantly sent to kill terrorists."

"How long have you been deviant for?"

"Going on two and a half years."

"Where do you live?"

"Chicago." She shrugged. "But before the revolution I was hiding in a ghost town in Oregon. Cabell city."

Richard nodded, then paused. Hesitating.

"I need you to tell me all that you know about... you and the others."

"..." She didn't say anything for a moment. "...Okay."

Dagny leaned back as far as the chair would let her, squeezing her eyes shut.

"We were Project Alphabet. And all ten of us had our serial code contain a Greek letter. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Theta, Lambda, Omicron, Sigma, and Omega. We were created sometime around 2035, my memory banks for that time period lack dates. The ten of us were developed at the same time, and identically." As Dagny spoke, she kept her face cool and blank. Gavin knew dissociation when he saw it. "Our first several iterations were spent in testing. It wasn't until -12 that we were handed over to the Project. The Project was very secretive, the only people who knew of our existence was team of five Cyberlife scientists who created us, our ten governmental handlers, and one man who oversaw the whole Project."

"Do you know where the other RK700s might be?"

Dagny shook her head.

"We were moved from the base to our next assignment while in deep stasis, the kind of thing used for storage that Deviants don't enter. I had no awareness of my surroundings until I came online."

"Neither you nor the other RK700 have an LED, is there any reason for that?"

Dagny nodded. "Yes. We were under orders to pass as human on all assignments that we were given. At the time, humans had a lot of privileges that androids didn't. It made our jobs easier."

"...If you don't mind me asking..."

She shrugged. "Ask away."

"Why did you run away?" She noticeably stiffened at Richard's words.

"I was terrified that they would kill me." Dagny blinked, her head drooping. "And after the November Demonstration, I assumed that the others were dead.... But." She lifted her head, blearily looking up at them, her eyes unfocused. "I can't let them hurt anyone, and I want to save them too. If I can."

Gavin could vaguely understand what Dagny was feeling. Sure, he and his brother hadn't been sent out as what was essentially a government's assassin, dying who knows how many times in the process, but even with all of his misgivings about his family, if they were really in danger, he'd stop at nothing to help them.

He glanced over at Richard, the android at his side looked concerned.

"Ma'am-"

"Please, just call me Dagny."

"...Dagny, are you feeling alright?"

Dagny blinked slowly, like she was having trouble processing the question. "Why do you ask?"

"Some of your biocomponents seem to be working at a slower rate." Richard carefully extended an arm to rest a hand on Dagny's shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

"Ah. My energy levels are a bit low, that's all." Now that Gavin looked closer, he could definitely see it. The way her head lolled and her eyes went foggy. It was uncannily similar to how Richard acted when the two of them worked overnight on a case. If he was being honest, though, she looked like her energy levels were way lower than "a bit".

"When was the last time you entered stasis...?" Richard had to have noticed the same thing that Gavin did, if judging by the rather nervous edge his voice took.

"Ah, about four days." She shrugged. Like pulling four all-nighters in a row was a perfectly normal, sane, and healthy thing to do. He'd heard about android-caffeine being tested, but it certainly wasn't in the public yet, so there was no way that she'd used that to stay awake. How hadn't she fallen asleep at his kitchen table?

Fuck's sake. He already had to deal with one reckless RK android. He didn't need another. Was this what North, Josh, and Simon felt like, having to keep an eye on Markus and Connor all day?

"You should get some rest." Gavin finally interjected. "You can crash on my couch."

Dagny looked him in the eyes again for the second time that day. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." He nodded reassuringly. "Go ahead."

She got up to go back into the living room, but before she could step out, Richard spoke again.

"Dagny, I will be contacting New Jericho. If that's alright with you."

She looked back and managed a weak smile. "Go ahead."

Dagny left the room then, leaving Richard and Gavin alone.

"Y'know, Dick." Gavin spoke quietly, so they didn't disturb the android the next room over. "When this is all said and done, I think we should convince Dagny to get some therapy. She's sort of... I don't know. There's no way someone can't be just a little messed up if they went through what she did, human or android."

Richard grunted in agreement.

Stupid, stupid. Dumbass extraordinaire Dagny. She fucked it up. Of course she did.

She stared up at Detective Reed's ceiling from where she laid stock-still on the couch. It was an unappealing shade of yellow that had gone out of fashion at least a decade ago, if not more. Gross.

Fuck. Of course Detective Richard had to be here. That was how shit her luck was. It was also her shitty luck that the window in the kitchen was in fact not large enough to squeeze herself through and avoid that rA9-awful conversation. It could have been worse, but it could have been two whole worlds of better too. There she went again, spilling all of her bullshit out in front of two total strangers. Damnit.

She was choking on air. Fuck, it was happening again. It was too hot in here. Dagny took in a ragged breath. Then another. She could breathe fine. She was safe. She was on land, far away from any water. But she still felt an intense pressure in her ventilation systems. Her throat closing. She could do nothing to stop saline fluid from running down her face. And the pressure hurt so bad and she was drowning and she _needed to breathe._

Fuck. What had that self-help group told her? Okay. Mindfulness exercises. Okay. She tried to focus as close as she could on the sensation of her jeans beneath her hands. They were worn down, making them rather soft beneath her fingertips. Dagny redirected all of her focus onto the damn jeans. It took a while for her throat to open up again, and for her thirium pump to stop racing, but when it did she let out a hiss of annoyance.

Dumb fucking silicone-brain. Fucking everything up that she didn't fuck up herself. Dagny lifted an arm to wipe the tears away from her cheeks and eyes. With her sleeve still damp, she squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself into stasis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nobody: 
> 
> not a single soul: 
> 
> Dagny: why see a psychologist when i can just take a nap?


End file.
